170 Unconscious Memory 



that the act had been repeated, it may be observed as a 

 corollary to this, that the less consciousness of memory the 

 greater the uniformity of action, and vice versa. For the 

 less consciousness involves the memory's being more per- 

 fect, through a larger number (generally) of repetitions of 

 the act that is remembered ; there is therefore a less pro- 

 portionate difference in respect of the number of recollec- 

 tions of this particular act between the most recent actor 

 and the most recent but one. This is why very old civilisa- 

 tions, as those of many insects, and the greater number of 

 now living organisms, appear to the eye not to change 

 at all. 



For example, if an action has been performed only ten 

 times, we will say by A, B, C, &c., who are similar in all 

 respects, except that A acts without recollection, B with 

 recollection of A's action, C with recollection of both B's 

 and A's, while J remembers the course taken by A, B, C, 

 D, E, F, G, H, and I — the possession of a memory by B 

 will indeed so change his action, as compared with A's, 

 that it may well be hardly recognisable. We saw this in 

 our example of the clerk who asked the policeman the 

 way to the eating-house on one day, but did not ask him 

 the next, because he remembered ; but C's action will not 

 be so different from B's as B's from A's, for though C will 

 act with a memory of two occasions on which the action 

 has been performed, while B recollects only the original 

 performance by A, yet B and C both act with the guidance 

 of a memory and experience of some kind, while A acted 

 without any. Thus the clerk referred to in Chapter X. 

 will act on the third day much as he acted on the second 

 — that is to say, he will see the policeman at the corner 

 of the street, but will not question him. 



When the action is repeated by J for the tenth time, 

 the difference between J's repetition of it and Fs will be 

 due solely to the difference between a recollection of nine 

 past performances by J against only eight by I, and this 

 is so much proportionately less than the difference between 



